I’m half way through my holiday break and so far it has been quite consumed by enjoyable entertainment activities. A couple of movies, a play and plenty of tv with a few old familiar faces. Thoughts on the movies below:

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was enjoyable – not the greatest movie I’ve seen this year but still lots of good fun. I say without hesitation that Dan Stevens/Sir Lancelot was the standout for me…with the Hugh Jackman cameo being a nice added touch. Unfortunately I suspect this film will mark the end of the franchise. I’ll miss Jed and Octodaddy so much. I only wish I could spend the night at a museum and yes, everything would come to life (yes, I'm lookin' at you Dionysus = ROM).

Into the Woods was highly entertaining but also rather disturbing. I expected something lighthearted and it turned out to be a lot heavier than I expected. I have never seen the play which I suspect focuses even more on the dark imagery that this Disney film only hinted at and would never dare to delve into. If the play does go as deep as I think it may, it is arguably a psychology course waiting to happen. And I also suspect that because Disney likely tamed the story down, it caused the plot of the movie to become a bit muddled. I get that they didn’t want to end it on the ‘happy ending’ which would contradict the overarching theme of being careful of what you wish for; but the movie just seemed piecemealed after the point where everyone’s wishes had finally come to fruition. The actual ending wasn’t happy or sad, it just was…and again I’m curious if that is how the play finishes as well. The Wolf/Little Red Riding Hood songs, both his and hers, were extremely unsettling to say the least. The overall music/score was enjoyable but it seemed as though the same songs were being repeated over and over again. Did they cut other songs? I suspect they did. Despite my negative comments, I did love the movie and its success was for the most part due to the individual cast performances. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, was brilliant. When I was young I didn’t understand Meryl’s Streep’s appeal. Over the years I have come to realize that she may be the best actress out there that isn’t British. Emily Blunt was her pefect self and, to top it off, it turns out she can sing well too…figures. Anna Kendrick/Cinderella didn’t have a big enough part IMO. Daniel Huttlestone’s Jack pretty much was a reincarnation of Jimmy from H.R. Pufnstuff….adorable. Chris Pine stole the show though as the proverbial Prince who was ‘raised to be charming, not sincere’. Agony, Chris’s duet with Billy Magnussen (aka the Other Prince/Rapunzel’s Prince), was the highlight of the movie. Arguably my favourite though was James Corden as the Baker, but I have a soft spot for Stormageddon’s dad.

Of course I will be buying both movies on blu ray when they are released. I guess that is the new bar for movies – if I decided to purchase the Blu Ray or not. These two are keepers. Next up at some point this week - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (what's with that title? How very Game of Thrones War of the Five Kings-ish)